VIZ CINEMA SPOTLIGHTS NEW CHINESE FILM MOVEMENT IN CHINA UNDERGROUND OPENING IN DECEMBER

7 Films Over 3 Days Offer a View of China as Never Seen Before

San Francisco, CA, November 15, 2010 – VIZ Cinema and NEW PEOPLE, in association with dGenerate Films, are proud to present a fascinating series focusing on a new vanguard of Chinese independent filmmakers, whose innovative uses of digital filmmaking deliver provocative insights into the world’s largest nation. The China Underground film series opens Friday, December 3rd and runs through Sunday, December 5th. Tickets and complete details are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

All of the documentary films to be shown at the festival were made outside the official Chinese film system – unauthorized, uncensored, and totally independent. These groundbreaking films introduce a new generation of filmmakers who represent the future of Chinese cinema, using new technology to present a vision of China as never seen before. A wide variety of controversial topics and issues like homosexuality, the role of women in society, the forced relocation of citizens which preceded the 2008 Beijing Olympics, drug use, and the inner workings of Chinese law enforcement, are examined in unflinching detail in these seven films.

China Underground opens Friday December 3rd with the premiere of Queer China, “Comrade” China at 7:00pm. The screening will include a Q&A session with several guest speakers and an after-party that will immediately follow. The remaining films will be screened throughout the weekend.

Ever more deets, after the jump

“These brave filmmakers often risk arrest, imprisonment, censure, or worse in order to have their work seen and message heard,” says Manami Iiboshi, programming director of VIZ Cinema. “San Francisco is a bastion of socially conscious and progressive ideas and it’s an honor to give a platform uncensored looks at a variety of important issues going on within Chinese society that are usually kept hidden from the West.”

“We’re thrilled to showcase seven of our titles at VIZ Cinema in China Underground, the first film series of its kind,” says Karin Chien, president of dGenerate Films. “Independent documentaries are the only free media existing in mainland China today. There is a new generation of filmmakers, artists, and activists wielding digital cameras and laptop edit systems, creating some of the most daring cinema in the world today. These films will have a special relevance and resonance with the diverse communities of the Bay Area.”

Queer China, ‘Comrade’ China, Friday, 12/3 at 7:00pm
(Directed by Cui Zi’en, China, 2008, 60min, Mandarin with English subtitles)
China’s most prolific queer filmmaker presents a comprehensive historical account of the queer movement in modern China. Unlike any before, this film explores the historical milestones and ongoing advocacy efforts of the Chinese LGBT community. Preceded by a screening of Digital Underground in the People’s Republic (18 mins, Dir: Rachel Tejada), a look at the Chinese independent film scene as documented firsthand by dGenerate Films. Tickets are $15.00.

Meishi Street Saturday, 12/4 at 2:45pm
(Directed by Ou Ning, China, 2006, Documentary, 85min, Mandarin with English subtitles)
MEISHI STREET shows ordinary citizens taking a stand against the planned destruction of their homes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Acclaimed at over two dozen museums and galleries around the world, Meishi Street, by renowned visual artist Ou Ning, works as both art and activism, calling worldwide attention to lives being demolished in the name of progress.
Tickets are $10.00.

Using Saturday, 12/4 at 4:45pm
(Directed by Zhou Hao, China, 2008, Documentary, 105min, Mandarin with English subtitles)
A twisted relationship develops between an urban Chinese couple struggling with heroin and a filmmaker chronicling their addiction, in this provocative documentary on drug abuse, filmmaking and friendship. Zhou’s unflinching depiction of his friends’ repeated attempts to quit blurs the line between filmmaker and subject, and raises provocative questions about the ways in which each uses the other. Tickets are $10.00.

Ghost Town Saturday, 12/4 at 7:15pm
(Directed by Zhao Dayong, China, 2008, Documentary, 169min, Mandarin, Nu, & Lisu dialects with English subtitles)
Zhiziluo is a town barely clinging to life. Tucked away in a rugged corner of Southwest China, the village is haunted by traces of China’s cultural past while its residents piece together a day-by-day existence. “Directed with scrupulous attention to detail” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times), Ghost Town, which debuted at the New York Film Festival, “is one of the most important films to have emerged from the booming (but still unexplored) field of Chinese independent documentaries (Dennis Lim, Moving Image Source).Tickets are $10.00.

1428 Sunday, 12/5 at 1:00pm
(Directed by Du Haibin, China, 2009, Documentary, 117min. Mandarin and Sichuan dialects w/ English subtitles)
Du Haibin’s award-winning documentary of the earthquake that devastated China’s Sichuan province in 2008 explores how victims, citizens and government respond to a national tragedy. Du depicts a world in chaos, both material and moral. “Without judgment but with a deep compassion for their subjects, the filmmakers of 1428 bring us a myriad of individual stories of absurdity, confusion and grief.”(Cherise Fong, CNN). Tickets are $10.00.

Crime and Punishment Sunday, 12/5 at 3:30pm
(Directed by Zhao Liang, China, 2007, Documentary, 122min, Mandarin with English subtitles)
“Zhao’s artistry is instantly apparent.” (Robert Koehler, Variety)
A prime example of how independent documentaries are on the vanguard of Chinese cinema, Crime and Punishment is an unprecedented look at the everyday workings of law enforcement in the world’s largest authoritarian society. With penetrating camerawork, Zhao Liang (Petition, 2009 Cannes Film Festival) patiently reveals the methods police use to interrogate and coerce suspects to confess crimes – and the consequences when such techniques backfire. Tickets are $10.00.

Before the Flood Sunday, 12/5 at 5:45pm
(Directed by Li Yifan and Yan Yu, China, 2005, Documentary, 147min. Mandarin and Sichuan dialects with English subtitles)
A landmark documentary following the residents of the historic city of Fengjie as they clash with officials forcing them to evacuate their homes to make way for the world’s largest dam. Shot over two years, Before the Flood is a breathtaking achievement in verité-style documentary filmmaking. This profound film shows the human effects of one of history’s grandest social engineering projects, reflecting on the loss of both home and heritage. Tickets are $10.00.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

About dGenerate Films
dGenerate Films brings uncensored, unprecedented and visionary content from deep inside mainland China’s independent, and underground, film scene to North America and beyond. dGenerate Films recognizes that unauthorized films by China’s post-Sixth Generation are the only true independent media in China today. We remain deeply committed to providing audiences with an unmediated look at life, as it’s truly lived, inside the world’s next superpower. To learn more, visit http://dgeneratefilms.com.

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